Chi-elements

On day 3 I attended lectures on the Hip Joint by Judith Hanson Lasater, and The 4 Stages of Healing by T.K.V. Desikachar. On this blog we'll cover the session on the Hip Joint. Hip Joint: The goal of this workshop was to look at ways in which common yoga practice puts stress on the hip joint and try to "unlearn" the mistakes typically taught in classes. The main reason being that hip replacement surgery has grown tremendously, including amongst yoga teachers. It is therefore our duty, as well educated teachers, to ensure we minimize stress and create greater stability in this key joint. The best way to keep the hip joint healthy is to ensure that you include postures that help move the joint in various directions, but never force a position - NO PUSHING!!! As Judith highlighted during the workshop, "the hip joint is a very individual joint. It varies by gender and culture." Due to this fact, it is important to know that a student may never do the "classical...

Today I sat in on T.K.V Desikachar's lectures and practice on meditation and pranayama (breathing technique). I was a real honor because he is my teacher's teacher and it was the first time I saw him live. Both lectures were very interesting presenting ways in which to use both of these techniques in a therapeutic context (given the Yoga as Therapy theme of the conference). My take aways are the following: Meditation: We should not underestimate the power of meditation to heal. Desikachar sited numerous examples of where meditation was used to heal physiological and psychological conditions. We just need to remember that the prerequisite for meditation is asana (posture work), as this prepares and quietens the body. Then you move on to pranayama - reducing your impurities, thereby making you ready for meditation. In meditation you need to be well prepared and have a sustained focus. The focus can be on an object of choice - whether it be a religious deity or something symboli...

This was my first day at the Yoga Journal Conference in Estes Park, Colorado. Both sessions I attended today were given by Gary Kraftsow. Both sessions were very insightful and practical, covering how the main objective of a therapeutic yoga practice is to help individuals manage the symptoms of their disease. In particular, the big take away from this tradition of yoga (also known as the viniyoga of yoga) is that we should never expect people to adapt to the yoga, but rather the yoga needs to adapt to the individual. Along this line, I received a great compliment from a student of mine this past week without her even realizing it. She said to me, "what I really like about this tradition of yoga is that it's the first time I feel like I can do a class and actually do all the postures, and really feel good afterwards." There you go folks, as Gary said, unless we have plans to join the Cirque de Soleil, our day to day yoga practice can definitely borrow more elements from t...

Already in the second aphorism of the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali lays out for us what Yoga is. It literally translates as "The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga." Yoga is a concentrated effort designed to bring the practitioner to stop identifying with the Ego, thereby eliminating one's false sense of self which is based on forms and identification with things. Through this elimination, the practitioner is better able to realize that he/she is not separate from the true Self (the formless consciousness beyond the Ego - that part of us that cannot be conceptually defined).

The Yoga Sutra (also referred to as Raja Yoga, the Royal Yoga) is the most ancient yoga text written by Sri Patanjali which presents guidelines and practices of Raja Yoga with the goal of bringing people of all faith and traditions to attain self-realization through a step-by-step process based on real life experiences. The text consists of 195 aphorisms divided into four chapters in which Patanjali makes concrete, detailed suggestions to help us be more respectful, resposible and peaceful towards ourselves, each other and the world as a whole. The Yoga Sutra is divided into 3 main themes: Suffering is not caused by outside forces, but rather by our own mental perceptions; the compulsive, conditional thought processes = the Ego. The neverending peace we seek can only be found when we connect with our true identity - the seer/observer (Purusha) is who we really are. We are the formless awareness (not the Ego!). Self-Realization comes with mastering the mind. Various practices are sugges...

Did you know that the skin is the biggest organ of the human body? Furthermore, did you know that whatever you apply tot he skin, 60% of it will make its way into your blood stream? Sadly, we don't all have pharmaceutical degrees and can't always decipher what we are actually putting on our skin. Still, rest assured that after years of researching most products out there which claim to be "natural" and/or "organic" I was shocked with how full of chemicals they all still were. A good rule of thumb is that if you can't understand it (let alone pronounce it :-)), then it's probably not good for you. Knowing these facts, wouldn't you go out of your way to only put the best quality products on your skin? The Organic Pharmacy (www.theorganicpharmacy.com) has an excellent, and very comprehensive, list of chemicals we should avoid, along with the details of their effect on the human body. I would highly recommend printing this out and taking it with you ...

I recently saw an interesting program aired by ABC and hosted by Peter Jennings. In this program, they turn an investigative eye on how the food industry is contributing to making Americans fat. In the US, 2/3rds of the population is overweight, with 1 in 3 being obese. The report poses some interesting questions around the link between US Agricultural policy and how this contributes to people eating bad food. Here are some of the highlights of this program: Agriculture in the US works with subsidies. The government gives out subsidies to grow specific types of crops. According to critics, the government gives out subsidies without considering the health impact. It is clear that if certain types of foods are subsidized more; those are the ones that are being produced on a larger scale. If you look at the USDA food pyramid, meat, sugars and fats are the food groups we should eat the least of. Now get this, these food groups receive 20 times more subsidies than fruits and vegetables! N...